Interlude from Wammy's House
by death to pink
Summary: Near and Mello notice Matt acting a little strangely as he slowly recalls the event that caused him to end up in Wammy's house in the first place. As these memories come to light, a dark criminal also emerges...
1. Unwanted Memories

It was night. The charcoal gray sky matched the color of the bleak city streets perfectly. Everything was the same color- the buildings, the pigeons, the people walking past. A steady rhythm of traffic resounded throughout the urban jungle, matching up with the marching of the droning citizens. All in all, it made for a depressing and dull picture to look at. Except, in a dark alley, a splash of red leaked out on to the gray picture, where a boy stooped over, sobbing...

-

-

-

Irritatingly bright sunshine pierced through the rain-stained windows of Wammy's House, shining directly on Matt's face. Slowly opening his bleary eyes, he suddenly smiled and hopped ecstatically out of bed. Grabbing his goggles, he ran out the door into the hallway, heading towards the cafeteria.

-

Mello was drowsily eating his first chocolate bar of the day, leaning on the cheap table with his eyes drooping closed. He mumbled quietly to himself, wishing he hadn't stayed up so late last night. Suddenly, his ears perked up as he heard an excited shout.

"Helloooooo Mellooooo!" exclaimed Matt as he practically exploded into the cafeteria and pounced on top of the blond from behind.

The half-asleep blond greeted his friend with the usual punch in the face.

"Matt, get off of me!" he shouted, nearly falling out of his chair in the process.

"Aww, someone looks grumpy!" laughed Matt as he rubbed his cheek where Mello punched him.

Mello sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to regain his composure. "Matt, what do you want?" he asked warily.

The red-head clapped his hands excitedly, leaning over the table casually and clearly trying to suppress his exuberance.

"You know what today is, riiight?"

Mello sighed again. "Let me guess: Your birthday?"

"No, it's actually Nintendo's birthday!"

Matt received a blank stare from Mello. Laughing, he said, "Just kidding! Of course it's my birthday, silly!" and slapped Mello on the back.

"So, did 'ja get me anything?" he asked happily.

The blond simply shook his head, a little guiltily. Mello had, in truth, completely forgotten. Again.

Matt looked a bit put out at first, but quickly came up with an idea. "That's okay! Can you just do me a small favor?" he smirked.

Mello looked up. _God, what now? _He thought apprehensively.

Just as he began fearing the worst, the red-head declared, "Play videogames with me all day!"

Mello nearly fell over in his chair again. _Well, maybe that's not so bad..._ he grimaced.

Laughing, Matt dragged Mello away from the cafeteria. "Schweet! C'mon, sleepy head!" he exclaimed, ignoring Mello's groans.

The half-eaten chocolate bar was left alone on the plastic table. Mello looked back at it longingly and sighed, "By the way, how old are you?"

"Thirteen years, four hours, twenty-six minutes, and...," Matt checked his watch, "...sixteen seconds!"

Mello shook his head. This was not his day...

The two boys quickly walked through the echoing, empty hallways, jumping over furniture and tripping up the stairs as Matt haphazardly led Mello to his room. They had just rounded a corner when they nearly fell over on top of...

"Near!" exclaimed Matt. "Good morning!"

The white-haired boy murmured his reply, without looking up from the floor. He was completely sprawled out across the hallway where Matt's room was, absorbed in his favorite blank jigsaw puzzle. But then Near paused and quickly scanned Matt's face with a stern expression. "Are you okay, Matt?"

Matt was completely thrown off. _What? How did he-? _"Yes! Of course! What would make you think otherwise?" he laughed nervously, and led Mello away by the hand without giving anyone the chance to reply.

_What was that about? _thought Mello quizzically. His train of thought was interrupted by his friend's voice.

"Hey, um, Mello? You can go in my room and set up the videogames if you want... I'll be right back..."

"Wait, where are you-" Mello stuttered. But Matt had already left him alone in the hallway. Mello looked down the hall at Near, and his rival simply raised one eyebrow in reply. _Something isn't right..._

-

Matt slumped on top of the stairs and stared gloomily out the window off to the side. He had tried acting as normal as possible, but his thoughts kept straying to that dream... "Perfect," he thought sarcastically to himself. "My first day as a teenager, and I can't enjoy it..." The images from his dream last night remained in his mind, echoing his hurt. _Mother..._


	2. Headache

Mello paced restlessly across the carpeted hallway. He hated waiting, especially for so long. _What was Matt doing?!_

-

Matt started as a drop of dew fell on his face and rolled down his cheek. _What the hell- _He blinked. _What am I doing outside?!_ He threw up his arms exasperatedly at the wet, drooping tree towering above him. Matt sighed and massaged his temples. _Great, now I can't even keep track of where I'm going... _He immediately stood up to go back inside, but a splitting headache caused him to sit back down again. Which was too bad, since he detested the outdoors...

He casually watched the other children play outside. They all seemed so happy... _I wonder if they've seen their parents die? _Matt shook his head and tried to clear his thoughts. He had been getting small headaches over the last couple of days, but this one today was especially bad. _And the dream last night was especially vivid..._ Matt sighed.

"It's not like you to be so depressed." Matt started and turned around to face Near.

"...What?"

Near sighed. "Mello's still waiting, you know..."

Matt blinked. It took him a long time to process that information, and once he finally did, he simply shook his head and massaged his temples again. "I'm sorry... I'm not feeling very well..."

"That much is obvious," Near stated bluntly. Matt was never able to understand how he could always be so cold and calculating... In a way, he was almost jealous.

"If it's okay with you, can you go inside and tell Mello I'm not feeling well?" asked Matt, not unkindly. He promptly groaned and continued nursing his headache.

Near silently stood up and analyzed Matt, scanning his face for a full minute before nodding and walking back inside. Matt quickly stood up and winced. His head didn't seem as bad right now... _Maybe a walk might clear my head up a little bit, _he thought, when he reminded himself that he didn't like going on walks as much as he didn't like the outdoors. Sighing for what must have been the one-hundreth time, he slowly walked away from the courtyard just outside Wammy's House.

The traffic outside suddenly reminded Matt of his dream last night. Despite the harsh, cold sun, the world outside Wammy's House was remarkably gray and dull. _And cold, _thought Matt as he tugged on his vest. _I don't even think I'm allowed to walk outside the gate without permission..._

He slipped past the creaking gate anyways, not paying much attention to where it was that he walked. _It was on my birthday... _A car horn beeped at him. _He was holding up a gun... _An angry person shouted at him for jaywalking. _She was crying... _He nearly walked into a lamppost. And stopped walking completely. _Why was she crying? _A small dog started chasing after him, yapping while it's short legs pumped back and forth. He turned around and scratched the dog behind its ears. _...I can't remember..._

Matt gasped. His headache had suddenly gotten much worse, drilling itself into his head, splitting into his skull. He leaned against the lamppost and waited for the pain to subside. As his condition steadily grew worse, he saw someone at the edge of his vision that caught his attention. He turned his head with a grimace and tried to focus on the person through his orange goggles. The features of the person's face were blurry, but Matt knew it was a middle-aged man, with a strange, unreadable expression on his face. _Why does he look so familiar? _As soon as Matt asked this question to himself, the pain in his head exploded and everything went black.

-

Mello had stopped pacing and just sat on the staircase leading down to the library. He usually wasn't the type to be worried about someone as goofy as Matt... He always got himself into trouble... But Mello felt tense down to his gut and knew something wasn't right. He hadn't noticed at first, but when Near talked to Matt in the hallway...

"Ahem." Mello nearly fell over in shock and spun around towards the voice, only finding it was Near. He scowled.

"What," he asked reproachfully. "Can't you just leave me alone?!"

Near fixed his empty stare on Mello and stated, "It's Matt."

"...What?!"

"As his acquaintence, I thought you might like to know that he's not feeling very well."

Mello snorted, trying to ignore the clenching feeling in his stomach. "What else is new? I figured Matt was funny in the head ever since I met him!"

Near simply shrugged and said, "He has a headache."

"Yeah, and he's the one who _gives _me headaches!"

"If I were his friend, I'd be concerned."

"And why is that?!" Mello practically shouted. Aside from the fact that he utterly despised Near, the tension he was feeling practically crawled out his throat and strangled his words.

Near raised an eyebrow. "Just the obvious fact that his condition has been worsening all day."

Mello bit his lip, both out of anger and anxiety. It started to bleed. He slowly breathed in and out, and then grabbed Near by the collar and dragged him down the staircase.

"_You._" He jabbed a finger at Near's direction.

"Yes?" aside from a small amount of stumbling from being handled so roughly, there was no change in Near's stoic demeanor.

Mello sighed with exasperation and muttered, "Tell me what's going on with Matt. Please."


	3. Captive

Author's Note: Phew! Things are picking up! Well, I hope I haven't strayed too far from the characters' personalities... I've fallen a bit behind on my writing due to a power outage, but now that's taken care of. Oh, and thanks to those who've reviewed and such! It's well appreciated! -bows- So, here you go! Next chapter!

* * *

-

_Drip... _

_Drip... _

_Drip..._

Matt winced and opened his eyes. He was sitting strapped to a small chair in a dark, dingy room. The walls and floor were damp as filthy water dripped from a ceiling pipe. _What the hell...? _His headache had been reduced to a dull throb that pounded in his skull relentlessly, matching the rhythm of the falling water. He tried reaching up to massage his temples once more, but soon realized that his arms were tightly restrained as well. _What's going on?!_

-

-

"...and after assessing the situation in its entirety, I decided that the most reasonable choice of action would be to consult you," finished Near, who, at this point, looked extremely bored.

Mello sighed. "So I suppose you expect me to go and comfort him? Is that it? It's not like I'm his mother or anything..."

Near shrugged, twirling a loose strand of his hair between his fingers out of habit. Then he paused, and looked back up with a slightly puzzled expression on his face. "Mello, how would you define a 'friend'?"

The blond was taken aback at this sudden question, but decided to answer anyway. "Um... Well, someone you know very well... Someone you have strong connections with..."

"So, does that make us friends?"

"No, no!" Mello almost retched at the idea. "It has to be a _positive _connection... Like, um..." He tried to think of an example.

"...Like you and Matt?"

"Well, we're... Not necessarily... I mean... Kinda..." Mello trailed off.

Near nodded, satisfied. "Right. That's all I needed to know."

"Yes, well... Wait, what?!"

The younger of the two just shrugged. "Well, the last I saw of Matt was in the courtyard. Go cheer him up."

"That's not funny."

"...'Funny'?" Near raised an eyebrow. He received a cold glare from the more irritable blond.

They sat staring icily at each other for an extensive amount of time. Mello opened his mouth to speak, when a look from Near silenced him once more.

Finally giving in, Mello wearily stood up. "Right... So where was Matt again?"

-

-

_...This SUCKS... _It must have been at least six hours since Matt got to touch a videogame. Not to mention he was kidnapped. Or something along those lines. He wriggled uncomfortably in his chair and tried to analyze his surroundings further.

There wasn't much to see; Just dark, dark, and lots of dark. And his good friend, the dripping ceiling pipe.

_Drip... _

_Drip... _

_Drip..._

_Will you ever shut up?! _Matt thought irritably. _Oh great, now I'm talking to a ceiling pipe... _His headache pounded dutifully. Sighing, he tried once more to free his bound hands, and got the same fruitless results.

_Drip... _

_Drip... _

_Drip..._

Matt glared at the leaking ceiling pipe. _This is all your fault..._

He faltered upon hearing a sudden creaking noise. A blinding crack of light slowly opened up in front of him.

_A... door? _He saw a silhouette slowly form within the light. Nervously, Matt opened his mouth to ask the person in front of him if he could use the bathroom, but then he stopped. His eyes suddenly widened in recognition.

"You...!"

-

-

The slight clenching feeling in Mello's gut returned. _No, no, I shouldn't be worrying now... _The two boys had looked in the courtyard and strategic places in Wammy's House, but had yet to find their target. A solemn mood had descended upon the two as their brief search turned up no results.

Mello soon became impatient. He searched his pockets for a chocolate bar only to realize that he had none left, aside from the one abandoned in the cafeteria. He painfully recalled the events that occurred earlier that morning that ended up separating him and his chocolate bar. _Matt, you idiot..._

Near walked in front of Mello, his head down in contemplation. Uneasily, Mello looked about their surroundings. They were trudging along the outer gates surrounding Wammy's House in silence.

It was just a little past noon now. The sun glared coldly down upon the hard, frozen earth. Just outside the outer gate, the bustling traffic could be heard. Inside the gates, the other kids were playing rambunctiously outside, going about their usual business.

Absorbed in his thinking, Near stopped walking completely without noticing, causing Mello to run straight into him. Near ignored the small collision, but then sensed a small disruption in Mello's behavior. Near looked up at the other boy's still figure.

Mello stared numbly ahead, having spotted something. He nodded towards the gate in the front yard. It swung carelessly off to one side, having been hastily opened. Giving quiet consent, they both stepped out the gate and onto the busy street.


	4. Determination

Author's Note: Um... Just wanted to say thanks to those who've read this far! The support is very helpful! -bows-

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-

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Gray clouds clawed at the sky and suffocated the harsh, bright sun. Mello shivered slightly and watched mist rise above his head as he took each breath. Grimly, he scanned the cold pavement for any sign of Matt. Ignoring the questioning stares he received from the occasional passerby, he shoved past the crowd of commuting people and sprinted back towards the front gates. Near was waiting there patiently, crouching upon the asphalt and tearing up a handful of grass.

"Mello. What took you so long?" he asked without taking his eyes off the ground. He slowly spread his fingers apart and watched the blades of grass tumble down loyally to the commands of gravity. Mello glared at him in annoyance.

"So you didn't find anything either?" Near finally looked up and met Mello's cold gaze.

"No. Nothing."

Sighing, Mello sat wearily on the ground. "Well, Matt's gotta turn up sometime, right?" _I'm probably worrying about nothing, anyways..._

Near shrugged and began twisting his hair between his fingers. "...I would certainly hope so, but... I don't know..."

Mello asked in surprise, "What? Why do you say that?"

"Well, just think about it. Displaying odd, secretive behavior, disrupting his daily activities, and suddenly is nowhere to be found? It's just a hunch, but I think something's wrong here..."

Mello paused to stare at him, his pulse quickening slightly. _So I'm not the only one... _

The blond stood up hastily with renewed determination. "Right, so-"

"Hold it." Near interrupted. "We might want to think this over carefully before expending any more energy."

Mello looked like he was about to argue, but simply sat back down impatiently with a huff. "Right. I'm listening."

"First of all," Near began, "I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Okay. Shoot."

Raising his chin slightly, Near fixed Mello with an intense stare and began interrogating. "Did Matt have any traumatic experiences upon meeting you?"

Slightly taken aback, Mello answered, "Not... that I know of..."

"And you were acquainted as soon as he entered Wammy's House?"

"Well... yeah..."

"And he's never acted like this before."

"Right."

"So, nothing's happened recently to cause his present behavior..."

Mello realized with a jolt what Near was saying. "Meaning, the reason behind his actions lies somewhere in the past, before he entered Wammy's House...!"

"Well, it's possible at least."

"Right, that makes sense..."

Near spoke up again. "There's something else, though. Assuming that whatever's bothering him is from before he entered Wammy's House, and he's never acted this way before, then why now? Why would Matt act this way now?"

"Hm..." Mello slightly furrowed his brow in concentration. "I wonder if Matt suppressed any thoughts concerning what may have been bothering him... And is just starting to remember it now?"

His rival blinked. "You mean, a repressed memory?" Near nodded slowly. "That's definitely a long shot... But it's not impossible... Yes, that would make sense, at least..."

Mello solemnly eyed the ground, carefully tracking the movements of a small beetle scurrying across the pavement. _Matt... If this is true, then what happened to you? What did you see? _The beetle splayed out its wings and took off in a blur.

His thoughts were interrupted as Near murmured, "Of course, this is all just speculation. This puzzle is still missing some pieces..." He pinched off a blade of grass and ripped it in half. "And we don't know for certain if Matt's strange behavior and disappearance are related... Also, we don't know what exactly happened back then to disturb him so much..." He dropped the grass halves to the ground. "In the end, the one in possession of the last missing pieces is Matt... Although, I'm not sure if even _he _fully knows what's bothering him so much yet..."

-

-

Scowling, Matt warily eyed the man standing in front of him. _I think I can recall now... This is the same guy I saw lurking on the streets, just before I passed out... _

Something about the person filled Matt with apprehension and disgust the moment he saw him. His headache felt like it was jabbing numerous little holes in his head, screaming and throbbing just behind his flickering eyelids. He frowned and concentrated. He had the feeling that he had definitely seen this man before, even before when he had lost consciousness. _But... this is no good... I can't... remember..._

All the while, the man was analyzing Matt, wearing an unreadable expression. He looked middle-aged, with pale facial features that were always arranged in the exact same stoic appearance. Nothing in his demeanor seemed particularly intimidating, but... Matt was positive he'd seen him before. And not only that, but when he'd looked at the man's eyes... Despite his mild expression, his eyes glinted oddly. They looked insane. _What's with this guy? Who is he? _Shuddering, he swiveled his head around to look at anything, _anything _other than the ominous person standing before him.

The air suddenly began to buzz with tension; tension which resounded in Matt's skull mercilessly. He winced from the pain his headache was causing. And, just as suddenly, his captor spun around and slunk out of the room without a sound. The hostile atmosphere dispersed, and Matt began to relax slightly. The noises of the dripping ceiling pipe once more became painfully conspicuous.

Once again reminded of his grim situation, Matt attempted to free himself once more. But, he was bound just as tightly as before. _Damn...__ I can't do anything... All I can do is just sit here and rot... _That thought repeated over and over agonizingly in his mind, dashing any hopes he had left.

He despairingly mulled over his options, getting the same futile results. _I can't free myself... I can't contact anyone... _Matt blinked. _Come to think of it... I wonder if anyone's noticed I've disappeared... I wonder if they're worried... And I hope Mello's okay... Near too... _

At this point, he laughed a little to himself. _If they were in a fix like this, they'd figure out a way to get free... _Matt looked up as his resolve hardened. _That's_ _right! I need to think... I need to think of a way out of this! _


End file.
